Finally, a Family
by Phoenixica24
Summary: Severus SnapexOC. Severus isn't really dead, but Rose thinks he is!
1. Chapter 1: Death

Death:

Severus Snape closed his eyes, feeling the last of his strength fade slowly from his body as he drifted into the warm darkness.

_Lily, I'll be there soon..._

_Albus, I'm so sorry, I did my best...He will be okay, I think._

_ Mum? I should have stopped them, I'm sorry..._

I never thought I would mess up this badly...

_Rose, my Rose, sweet Rose, I'm so sorry...please forgive me this one last time..._

"Rose?" he croaked as he heard her sobbing.

"Sev..." she whispered, reaching out. "Don't go!"

"I won't...leave..." he gasped.

"Sev, I can't do this without you, I'm...Don't! Don't give up! Someone help!" she cried, but it was too late.

"I love you." he whispered.


	2. Chapter 2: Life

Life:

"ROSE!" Harry tried to pull his friend out of the Shrieking Shack. Hermione ran up to help. She knew what was wrong.

"Rose, it's okay..."

"She wasn't in love with that git, was she?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Ronald!"

"What?"

"Yes, they were in love, since fourth year, and for your information, where do you think she-"

"She's PREGNANT?"


	3. Chapter 3: Lost

Lost:

Sounds blurred, fading in and out like a badly tuned radio. Sometimes all was darkness and silence. He thought that must be nighttime. Soon, there was no nighttime, there was this ever-present beeping that was extremely annoying and made him want to grit his teeth at least, if not smash whatever it was to shut it up. But he couldn't find his teeth. Or his eyes. Or anything but where he was, which he assumed must be his mind. But then where was his body?

Some time later, he wasn't sure how much, he realized he must be slowly waking up from a long period of unconsciousness, maybe a coma? He didn't care anymore.

This was getting boring. He started trying to move his arms, eyelids, anything! He didn't want to be stuck here anymore!

A realization! Good, he'd get a break from whatever this was to try to remember: Who was he? And anything about himself.

Voices. Suddenly he remembered everything in a flash. Rose! Where was she? Was she okay? Did she know he was semi-alive? He had to get out of here!

His heart rate accelerated quickly and suddenly, as warmth flooded back into his body, and he thrashed around. "Rose!" his voice! The beeping became alarming, and people started crying out;

"He's waking up!"


	4. Chapter 4: Gone

Gone:

Time blurred, sometimes flying, sometimes dragging. Sometimes frozen. Rose didn't care. Her only true love, her soul mate, gone. Forever. And the one thing she'd had left, his body, had been stolen from where it lay. Tears flowed freely down her face.

She had barely managed to sit through the funeral. There was no body, but she caressed the casket and whispered, "If you ever come back, I'm going home. I'll wait. I promise. I love you."

The next day, no one knew where she was.

They were both gone. And the world already seemed a lot less bright without them.


	5. Chapter 5: Home

Home:

Rose stood in front of her childhood home and promised to wait there until Sev returned to her or she died.

She found some of her old friends and made some new, got a job, memberships to gyms and teams, and went on with life. Uninterested in dating or moving on, just waiting.

Time flew by as she gradually fell apart, as each day passed and he hadn't come back. But she was home, and he would come here. He would find her. She just had to be patient. He would come. He would...


	6. Chapter 6: Waking Up

Waking Up:

Severus thrashed around until someone pinned him down.

"Do you know who you are?"

His mind was reeling. "Yes," he answered honestly. "Who are you?"

"I am Doctor Wayne. You were found fifteen years ago, bleeding to death and poisoned, in a forest. We have relocated you to several hospitals around the world-you have been here for only about seven months."

"Where am I?"

"Delnor Hospital in Batavia."

"Batavia?"

"In Illinois, in the United States."

_Batavia...hadn't Rose said she was from somewhere around there?_

"Once we are completely sure you have recovered fully, we can send you back to Britain if you'd like..."

"No, I know someone near here that I'd like to visit."

"All right, then. We'll keep you for at least a week just to be sure. Would you like to call?"

_Call...Right, a Muggle thing. I must be in a Muggle hospital._

"No, I'm not sure I remember the number right." _I hope that sounded okay, they do use numbers, right?_

"Well, we do have a phone book available if you'd like to look through it. Here." The doctor called out over his shoulder and someone brought a big yellow book in.

"Will you be all right?"

"Yes, I think so, thank you." _I wish I could see the looks on the students' faces..._

"Then I'll leave you alone for a bit. Call by pressing that red button if you need anything." The doctor pointed at a large red button on the wall near the bed, smiled, and left. The nurses followed.

Severus sighed heavily once he was alone. He picked up the book and wondered for a second if her last name had changed. _Well...it's worth a try, anyway._

He leafed through the pages until he found 'Smith'. There were several pages, front and back, in tiny print listing people with that last name. He sighed. They did say they'd keep him for a week...

Surprisingly, it only took him half an hour to find her. Or who he hoped was her. By that time, a nurse had come in with food.

She smiled as she set the tray down. "Did you find your friend?"

"Yes," he said, pointing to the number.

"Okay, here's a phone, you can make only authorized calls from here. Give me a minute." She left quickly, and was back soon. "I authorized a call to that number from this phone. Dial 1 first, and don't let your lunch get cold!" she said, still smiling as she left.

_These people certainly are cheery for working, almost living in a place filled with so much pain, sickness, and death..._

He picked up the 'phone', and wondered how to dial for only a moment. Sure he'd figured it out, he pressed 1, then looked at the book in his lap. He followed the numbers with his finger as he pushed the numbered buttons on the phone. Then he pressed the green button that said "Call".

Putting the device to his ear, he could hear a faint ringing. He looked at it, wondering why it was so quiet, then realized the numbers were upside down. He flipped it the other side up and the ringing became louder.

Heart pounding, he waited to hear her voice.

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, this has been waiting to be posted for a while, but my beta has a lot to do, and so I had to find a sub. Thanks so much to Azzie for standing in! Reviews are much appreciated! Thank you!**


	7. Chapter 7: Unbelievable

**A/N: Thanks so much to Sophia Cooper for her encouraging reviews that persuaded me to give writing another chance. And reminding me this story existed...This chapter's for you! :D  
**

**Also thank you to my beta Azzie(Inkfire) for looking this over for me. :D  
**

Finally, a Family:

Chapter Seven: Unbelievable:

A sharp, incessant ringing disturbed the birds' song, and Rose groaned as she opened her eyes. She reached across to the bedside table and grabbed her clock. 12:30pm. _Great..._

Sighing, she sat up and reached for the phone next, running her fingers through her hair.

"Hello?" she mumbled sleepily into the receiver.

"Hi, sorry-" a young voice broke off quickly. "Ooops, Mom's up!" _Beep._

Rose sighed again. "Sorry about that. Who is this?"

"Rose? Who was that?" asked a very familiar voice. Rose gasped, her heart pounding. _Dear God, it's happened...I'm hallucinating!_

Half her instincts screamed at her to hang up, the other half just wanted to listen to his voice until she died.

"My daughter, Eileen." There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end.

"You...got married?" he asked, clearly hurt.

"No...I meant to tell you...I was pregnant, when..."

"You're not saying...!"

"She's our daughter."

Silence.

"Hello?"

…... "Sev?" She muttered quietly for a few seconds. "I knew this was too good to be true." she sighed. She was about to hang up when he replied.

"How old is she now?"

"Fifteen."

"Does she know?"

"As much as I could bring myself to tell her."

"Does she go to Hogwarts?"

"No."

"No? Why not?" He yelled, shocked.

"Can you imagine me sending her there...where you died? Where people knew you? She'd come home with questions that would break my heart to answer! No! I couldn't do it! So sue me!" she yelled back.

He was silent.

"Fifteen years Sev! And I still cry myself to sleep!" She was crying now. "I don't even believe this is happening!"

"Mom?" asked that young voice again. "Whatever it is, it's happening. You're awake."

More crying.

"Hello? I'm sorry, my mom's really upset right now. Can you call back later?"

"Eileen?"

Pause. "Yes? Who is this?"

"It's Severus...your father."


	8. Chapter 8: A Real Family?

**A/N: Thanks to Sophia Cooper for encouraging me not to give up on writing! Many of the stories you reviewed are now dedicated to you-without you, they would never have been continued! This is one of them :D  
**

**Also thanks to my beta Azzie(Inkfire) for not giving up on me and getting this chapter back so quickly! :D  
**

Finally, a Family:

Chapter Eight: A Real Family?

Silence reigned supreme, both in the pure white hospital room and the quiet little bedroom, connected only by a phone call.

"Impossible. Whoever you are, I'll have you arrested for disturbing my mother!" Eileen shouted, quickly hanging up.

Rose looked up, shocked. "Eileen, that was him!" she hissed.

"He's dead, Mom, and nothing can bring him back!" Eileen cried. "Please, it's about time you moved on!"

"You wouldn't understand." Rose whispered. "You're too young."

"I'm fifteen, Mom, try me!" Eileen yelled. "I'm sick of hearing you cry all the time because of him, it's his fault I've never seen my own mother smile or heard you laugh! It's because of him you're always hurting, always waiting! I'm sick of it! I want to move on!" With that, she fled the room. Rose heard her daughter's bedroom door slam, and sighed.

"Oh, Severus...is it too late? For us to be a real family?" she whispered.


	9. Chapter 9: What Now?

**A/N: Dedicated to my wonderful beta Azzie(Inkfire)! :D  
**

Finally, a Family:

Chapter Nine: What Now?

Rose waited until Eileen left with some friends for the day before calling Severus back. A nurse answered the phone, then passed it to him.

"Hello?" His voice sounded very distant.

"Sev?" Rose asked, confused.

"Oh, right." He fumbled with the phone, and his voice became louder. "Are you all right?"

"About as all right as can be expected." she replied, her head spinning. _This can't be happening, it's impossible!_

"It's real, love."

"You reading my mind hasn't changed."

_Changes...What's changed? Everything. _They both sighed.

"Sev?" Rose sounded scared.

"What?" His voice was so reassuring...

"What now?"

"I don't know love. I'd like to see you again. But they're keeping me here for a week at least. And I'd like to meet my daughter-preferably without her trying to rip my head off." he teased.

"I'm sorry about that. She's gotten very protective of me. She probably thinks I'm insane for believing it's you."

Silence filled both rooms, until Rose spoke again.

"She's out for the day. I could come by if you want."

"I'd love that." Severus replied, smiling at the phone.


	10. Chapter 10: Visit

**A/N: Thanks to my beta Azzie for looking this over for me! I'm seriously considering dropping at least three of my WIPs-including this one-in favor of speedier updates on my more popular stories. If anyone wishes me to continue this story, they must either review or PM me at any time and I will resume updates. Thanks! ~Phoenixica24**

Chapter Ten: Visit:

Rose scrambled out of bed and hurried to get dressed, doing her best to rush and still look nice. She left a note for Eileen on the table, saying she'd gone to run some errands and would be back soon.

The short drive to the hospital seemed to take forever. Rose tapped her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, sighing in frustration as a large delivery truck fumbled through the turn in front of her.

By the time she reached the main building, it was nearing lunchtime. She grabbed a snack on her way in, and spent half an hour talking to various nurses, trying to find his room and gain access to it. Finally, a nice young intern took pity on her and snuck her through the security.

"Thank you." Rose told her, smiling before she faced the door to his room. She took a deep breath and almost didn't hear the nurse's reply.

"Good luck." Rose's heart fluttered nervously, but she forced herself to open the door anyway, unsure anymore of what she would find on the other side.


End file.
